David and Tally's Journey
by roxannescharf
Summary: Takes place after specials. David and Tally must learn to work together to protect the world from the new generation of free-thinking pretties.
1. Chapter 1

-Message Sent.-  
"You're doing a good thing, Tally." David said reassuringly.  
Tally wished that she felt as sure as David did. In her new, special mind she wondered if she had herself doomed the earth by allowing Zane to test the nanos. Either way, she was going to use the equipment Dr. Cable had stuck her with in a positive way from now on. With the help of David, the random, she was going to make sure this world didn't end like the last one.  
It helped that they had something in common. They were both built for the wild, as well as their friend, Andrew Simpson Smith. The next step in the journey would be to find him, after a good night's sleep (for David), of course.  
"You need to rest soon," Tally said dryly.  
David studied her with his gaze for a moment, and then nodded, "I'll sleep after we get some food. You should sleep, too."  
Tally grunted, and began to rummage through the food supplies. Spagbol seemed to be the only packet left, and this distressed her. After living on nothing but dehydrated spaghetti Bolognese for a week, she could no longer stand the stuff. David watched from behind her, and sighed.  
"Sorry!" He said, "I really shouldn't have packed any SpagBol… I just wasn't sure if you'd be coming."  
Tally turned to him and smiled as gently as she could. This wouldn't be a problem, as her stomach had been readapted during her special surgery. She could now absorb nutrients and stay alive on virtually anything; including needles from pine trees.  
"Don't worry about it," she said to David, "I'll just go forage for food outside of the ruins. You can stay here and eat."  
He shook his head, "no, we should stick together. How about I come along and we can catch a rabbit or something?"  
Tally grimaced. It made sense that no one had explained to David all the things that happen during a special operation. Even though his mother, Maddy, was a surgeon, she had likely never heard of the top secret procedure.

Tally wasn't excited to tell David though. It just seemed like another thing that would make him uneasy about her and how much of a monster she had become. It already seemed like ages since he had told her that she was still the same person to him; even thought it had barely been a few hours.  
"Okay," she said, "rabbit it is. Let's go now before it gets too dark."

David smiled, and this cheered Tally up. Together they got on Tally's special hoverboard, and set out for the forest beyond the ruins. Riding on the same board weakly reminded Tally of how they had done the same thing together as uglies.  
They landed at the edge of the forest, and got off the board. David wasted no time, and began to walk away as gracefully as he could in hopes of seeing some sort of edible animal. Tally stood in place, and watched him.  
A few weeks ago, she had hated David more than anyone else. She had been holding him responsible for things that had either been her fault or no one's fault at all. Her brain was working quickly; each day she felt a little less superior, and a little more in control.  
Today, she liked David. She remembered him from before she had become pretty, and although she didn't feel any tender feelings toward him now, she didn't feel any anger either. He was a good person, and he could see people in a different way than most. Tally wasn't sure if this was because of the way he was brought up, or if it was just who he was. It didn't matter though, because either way he was David, and he was kind to her despite the fact that she was a monster.  
When Tally finally started to walk around in search of food, she did so with a heavy heart. The forest reminded her of her days following Zane, and this brought back her worst memories. Zane was gone, and that was something she couldn't blame on someone else.  
"Tally," David cried, "where are you?"  
Tally didn't feel like calling back. Part of her hoped that if she stayed quiet enough, the forest might swallow her up and take her away from all this pain and guilt. She hated the way she was as much as she felt superior for being special, and these were conflicting feelings. The type of feelings that made her want to dig into her arm, and feel icy again.  
But she wouldn't do that, because she had betrayed enough people in her life. David, Shay, the people in the smoke. Betraying Zane again would be too much. She would keep this promise to him.  
"Tally!" David cried again, this time closer.  
She sat down in the cold grass and curled up into a ball. She knew that really she was hiding from David, but somehow she felt like she was hiding from the pain. That wasn't something that she was ready to face, so she didn't call back.  
"Tally!" David yelled again, only metres away this time, "Tal-…"  
He had spotted her, so she raised her head from her arms. She hoped that her face looked apologetic.  
"Tally…" he said gently, "are you alright?"  
She nodded, and found the strength to pat the ground beside her. He nodded, and walked over then sat down. Hesitatingly, he put his hand lightly on her back.  
"You can tell me anything," He said softly, "I'm here."  
Tally nodded. She knew that if she wasn't special, there would be tears falling down her face.  
"I'm okay, David," she said tensely.  
He nodded, and slowly wrapped his arm around her. When she didn't budge, he put his other arm around her and gave her a loose hug.  
Tally closed her eyes. She stood up, allowing David to drop his arms. She shook away the Zane thoughts, and focused herself on finding an animal.  
She saw the heat signature of a bird high up in the tree, and a squirrel. The bird would surely escape, but she may have a chance at catching the squirrel. With a burst of energy, she ran, treading as lightly as she could on the ground. She jumped, flying into the tree and quickly grabbing on. She climbed its branches as quickly as she could, and propelled herself to the branch that the squirrel sat on.  
The creature jumped in surprise, and began running from her. She threw out an arm, and grasped its tail. The squirrel shrieked, and withered in her grasp. She tried to steady it with her other hand, but it dug its teeth into her. She loosened her hands, and it slipped away, leaving only a bleeding gash.  
Annoyed, but somewhat icy, Tally threw herself off the tree and onto the ground.  
"Sorry David, let it slip away."  
He looked at her, his eyes wide. He tried to disguise his new fear of her, but she could sense it anyway. "It's alright," he whispered, hiding the shock in his voice.  
Tally did her best to keep her distance from him, in hopes that he would get used to her again. She had no interest in chasing animals, and wanted only to go back to the ruins and rest. Maybe she could stomach the Spagbol for tonight.  
"Let's go back, David," she spoke softly, "Spagbol sounds better than doing more of this."  
He looked at her, and she joked in her mind that he was looking for a weak spot. She wondered how he felt now about those times he had been close to being caught by her. Likely, he was just starting to understand her strength.  
"You hate that stuff," he remarked, "besides, I saw a few rabbits before. It won't take long."

He began to walk away. Tally wasn't satisfied with that. She didn't feel like skinning a rabbit when she could just eat some pine needles and David could eat some dehydrated food. "Wait," she asked.  
David didn't stop walking, so Tally sped up to catch him. She reached her hand out to pull him back.  
As soon as she pulled on his shoulder, Tally regretted it. She knew that she had put too much force into it. David flew backwards and landed on the ground. Tally heard his back crack.  
"Oh god," she yelled, "Are you okay?"  
He groaned on the ground, and raised his hand to touch his forehead. Tally's special nose could smell the faint sent of blood.  
"David?" she asked more urgently.  
It surprised her that she felt genuinely worried. More than that, she felt bad for accidentally hurting him.  
He opened his eyes groggily.  
"Holy shit, Tally," he said angrily, "what was that for?"  
"I didn't mean to…" she tried frantically to think of what to say, "it was an accident, and I…"  
David's grunt of pain cut her off, "yeah, I get it, Tally. I can't stand up, so you better be ready to carry me back."  
The frustration in his voice made her feel terrible. This surprised her as well, because she didn't think that she cared about David enough to worry about hurting him. Sure, she felt that he was a useful travelling companion, but she didn't think she'd care about his survival. She guessed that maybe some feelings didn't disappear when you turned special.  
Tally crouched down next to David, and asked him what to do. She ended up carrying him bridal style all the way back to the hoverboard. She knew that there would be no way to balance him and hoverboard at the same time, so she simply programmed the board to follow them, and began the long hike back to the ruins.

***

"I'm sorry for yelling at you," he said about an hour later. He had kept his eyes closed for most of the trip, and Tally assumed he had fallen asleep.  
"I know it's not your fault that you're like this," David said, "I shouldn't have gotten so angry."  
She found his choice of words annoying. He talked as though she was handicapped instead of built in a superior way. She knew that in her head, she was sometimes a monster, but she never doubted any part of her special body. She chose not to tell him this, though. At least he was forgiving her mistake.  
"Sorry," she said, "I was too icy. I wasn't being careful."  
He opened his eyes, and watched her curiously. "Icy?"  
She stared down at her scarred arms. Had David never noticed them? She knew that he was following her gaze because he let out a small sound.  
"What happened?" He asked loudly.  
This brought Tally's mind back to somewhere she didn't want it to be. Things like this reminded her of her mistakes, which reminded her of Zane. Instantly, her mood darkened.  
"When you're a special, sometimes you get overwhelmed by all your extra senses, and whatever might be going on at the time," she explained.  
"So…" David said hesitantly, "you got hurt while your were overwhelmed?"  
She sighed. This probably wouldn't be something that he would understand. Either way, she was stuck with explaining. She hoped that he wouldn't think much less of her.  
"No," Tally said frankly, "I didn't get hurt. I hurt myself."  
David shut his eyes again, and didn't say anything for a few minutes. Tally wished she could close her eyes, too. She continued to hike along, the ruins getting closer. David was beginning to feel heavy in her arms.  
"I don't understand," he said after a long break.  
She thought he had fallen asleep, and was surprised with what he said. Tally had almost forgotten what they were talking about.

"I understand that people do it," he continued, "the boss used to have a book about young rusties hurting themselves. I just never understood why."  
He opened his eyes, and watched her, waiting for an explanation.  
"When I'm overwhelmed," she began, "and I feel pain, everything just kind of gets quiet in my head. I guess the pain becomes the main thought, and for the first few seconds, I feel like I can think things through again. The reason that I hurt you was because the voice that tells me to be gentle got quiet in my head after the squirrel bit me."  
David's eyes never left hers while she explained, "I wish you wouldn't hurt yourself, Tally."  
He said her name in such a way that she understood that he was talking to the old Tally, not special Tally. If special Tally got hurt, it didn't matter. She was filled with nanos that would fix her up. To David though, she was still ugly Tally, the one that was nothing more than human.  
"I stopped a while ago," she whispered.  
He looked at her questioningly, but didn't hesitate to ask "why?"  
Tally looked up at the darkening sky, and for a moment tried to bring up his face. It came to her mind easily enough, the same beautiful boy with black hair. In this picture though, he wasn't shaking. He was smiling.  
The look on her face must have been enough, because David never asked her again.

*** 

When they finally hiked back to the ruins, it was dark. Tally set David down gently onto the sleeping bag, and hurried to make him some Spagbol. She ended up having to feed him herself. She realized that having David injured didn't feel the same as when Zane was an invalid. Looking down at David while feeding him didn't give her the same sick feeling, nor did she feel superior.  
She wondered if it was just because it was David, and that thought hurt her deeply. She wished she could have been the person she is now back when Zane was alive. Maybe then she could have stopped herself from pushing him so hard.  
By the time David was full, she was found herself more depressed than she had been in a very long time.

***

She slept in a windowsill, checking on David after every 10 minute ping. At some point during the night, he was awake when her ping went off. He smiled at her, and suddenly her chest didn't feel so ripped up.  
"Couldn't sleep either?" he asked innocently.  
She smiled briefly, "how's your back?"  
He winced dramatically, then smiled widely. "I feel a lot better," he admitted.  
Reassured, Tally closed her eyes and prepared to sleep again.  
"Tally," David whispered, "There's been something bothering me for a while."

She opened her eyes, and nodded to him. She didn't feel very lively, and so she didn't force herself to give him responses. This seemed to discourage him a bit, but he managed to recover enough to ask the question.  
"I know I shouldn't ask you this after all that's happened, but I think after tonight you owe me the answer. Tally…" He took a breath, "why did you say my name the first time you kissed Zane?"  
She was taken off guard by this. Never had she thought that David could still have feelings for her when she looked like this. She was supposed to be frightening. She was supposed to be nothing he remembered about ugly Tally. More than anything else, she found the question irritating.  
She didn't want to think about her bubbly days, especially after everything they represented was ripped away from her. Zane was gone, and thinking about their first kiss was really painful. All their happy memories were now.  
"I don't know," she lied, "that's a stupid question."  
David winced at her tone, and whispered, "No it isn't," very softly.  
She gave him no indication that she heard him. She closed her eyes, and at her next ping, his eyes were closed, too.

***

The next morning on Tally's ping, David was waiting in the same position she left him in. In his hand he held a small object which she knew was used for telling time. He eyed her suspiciously before speaking.  
"Tally, are you aware that you wake up every ten minutes?" He asked, hiding his frustration, "I mean, exactly ten minutes."  
Tally didn't reply. She grabbed David's bag and jumped out the window. She heard him calling her name as she ran. She hoped that he wouldn't try to come after her.  
The ruins stretched out wildly, leaving her close to getting lost several times. The bodies didn't bother her like they used to, something that could likely be attributed to her special mind. She smelled the water before she could see it, and filled up the water purifier as quickly as she could.

The rusty water matched the ruins. It had a greasy film in it that the rusties must had been used to. To Tally however, it was repulsive. The water she grew up on was always completely purified, and free of dangerous chemicals.  
On her run back, her skintenna was picking up frantic beeps. Obviously David still couldn't walk. She felt guilty for leaving without an explanation, but she wasn't used to being with people yet. Eventually, she returned to where he was.  
"Where did you go?!" He exclaimed as soon as he caught site of her, "you scared the shit out of me!"  
Tally had heard David say that word twice in the last two days. She knew that rusties used to have certain words that were offensive to each other, but she couldn't understand why David used them. She made a mental note to ask him about it in the future.  
She opened up the bag and held up the water purifier. It took him a moment, and then David seemed to lose some of the anger on his face.  
"Thanks," he muttered as she handed him the water. He took a long drink, then watched her silently for a few moments.  
She tilted her head to the side and soon became annoyed with his gaze. She turned from him and moved to the opposite end of the room to sit down. Tally raised an eyebrow at his staring.  
"So, answer my question," he prompted. Tally assumed he was referring to the pings that woke her up every ten minutes.  
"Yes, I'm aware, David," she said impatiently.  
He sat quietly for a moment, staring at the water purifier. "What else?"  
She sighed. "I can do a lot of things."  
"I think," he began, "that it would be better for us to work together if I had a full understanding of your skills.  
Speaking as quickly as she could, Tally listed her abilities that came with her special operation, "immunity to poisons, better agility and speed, heightened senses, infa-red vision, skintenna system, superiority complex, and stomach that can digest anything." 


	2. Chapter 2

"I think its time we met up with Andrew Simpson Smith," remarked Tally. The early morning air was chilly, and dew had accumulated on the ruins. The past few days had been spent stealing things from the city in preparation for months in the wilderness, and David seemed exhausted.  
David climbed the building steps slowly, "I have no idea where he is. We might have to look for him a long time."  
Tally could hear the lack of sleep in his voice. The gathering of city supplies was demanding, and they often had to steal in the middle of the night to avoid being caught. She wished that David would sleep during the day, but he refused, not wanting to miss anything. He was breathing heavily by the time he made it to the roof of the building. The bruises under his eyes made him look much older than he actually was. Surprisingly, this made Tally worry, and she found herself considering running off alone to find Andrew.  
Deep down, she could pinpoint the source of her worry. The last few times she had pushed someone too hard, it didn't turn out well, and he ended up dying in the end. She didn't want to push David, and she couldn't risk losing him too.

Later that evening, Tally made her decision, "I'm going to go without you to find Andrew Simpson Smith. You need to stay here and rest."  
David shook his head, "absolutely not. We're sticking together."  
Tally sighed, trying to react well, "You need to rest." She could sense a fight beginning to brew, and she didn't want to anger David.  
"Tally..." he said softly, "you can't leave me here alone again. Last time you left, all I did was worry. I'm coming with you."  
Tally stared at him for a moment, trying to remember when she had left him. Had he meant when she was an ugly, or when she chose to stay with Zane? Either way, it didn't matter. David shouldn't feel the same about her anymore. He needed to move on.  
"David, I'll be back in a few days. Just stay here and take care of yourself," she said, a little too forcefully.  
He averted his eyes from her, and Tally decided it was best to get up and leave. She grabbed her water purifier, and set off through the ruins. A few minutes later, she heard frantic running, and the unmistakeable sound of David's breathing.  
"Don't go," he said between breaths.  
Tally raised an eyebrow. David hadn't brought any of his survival equipment with him, and his face was red from the running.  
"Please," he huffed.  
Tally closed her eyes, and inhaled, "I'm leaving David. It'll be just for a few days."  
"Let me come with you."  
She shook her head.  
"Please, Tally," he asked, "I can't stay here without you."  
She shook her head again, "yes you can. I'll come back."

The journey alone through the forest was calm, and it gave Tally too much time to think. Whether she was thinking about the look on David's face, or the fact that Zane was gone, Tally couldn't seem to cheer herself up. Her special body was turning into a prison, and even though she was running faster than any person, she was still trapped in her past mistakes.  
David didn't sleep for a long time after Tally had left. By the time he got back to their place in the ruins, the sun was nearly set, and it was cold. He made himself a hurried cup of dehydrated CurryNoods (which they had managed to steal earlier that week), and settled down into his sleeping back. He thought about what he'd do if Tally never came back, but most of all, he thought about the face of ugly tally.

Andrew Simpson Smith wasn't far from where she'd left him all those weeks ago. He had a small camp near the reserve, and when Tally walked closer to him, she couldn't help but smile a little bit. Andrew was eager to help with the mission, and it didn't take much explaining before he was ready to go back to the ruins. Unfortunately though, they wouldn't be able to make such good time on the way back.  
He wasn't a slow traveller by any means, but he certainly was human. By the time they could see the ruins in the distance, four days had passed since Tally left.

The four days for David weren't easy. He had tried to hunt a rabbit, and instead wound up with a sprained ankle. With his injury, he became unable to leave the ruins to find water, which meant he had no dehydrated food either.  
On the evening of the third day, the temperature dropped, and the ruins experienced a bad rainstorm (luckily, Tally and Andrew had found a cave throughout this). The cold and the rain left David with a fever and potential pneumonia. He felt awful, but also embarrassed that he had failed so thoroughly to take care of himself.

"David?" he heard a familiar voice, but it wasn't enough to wake him from his dream. Instead, it somehow became part of the dream.  
He was climbing down a hill, and across the way was a girl. She smiled and waved, and despite the cuts and sunburn on her face, she looked happy. He smiled back, but suddenly realized he was cold. The sun shone brightly in the sky, but seemed to be avoiding his skin.  
"Tally!" he yelled, waving back. Her smiling face dissolved, and suddenly her face was bent in odd angles. Her eyes were black, and she seemed to push out all her happiness. Behind her, someone on a hoverboard was approaching.  
"Look out!" David yelled frantically, running as fast as he could to her. He was getting closer, but the hoverboard landed before he could help her. The person on the board had a perfect face, and as he got off, he put his hand on her shoulder.  
"Tally!" David called, but she was turning to look at the other man. David kept running, but suddenly, his leg was in pain and he was on the ground. He reached his hand out to her, and called her name.  
But it was too late, and the man with the perfect face was leaning in to kiss her.  
"Zane," she said, "wake up."

"David! Wake up!"  
"He's sweating."  
David's hand collided with Andrew Simpson Smith's face. The force wasn't enough to budge him, but there was still a red mark. Andrew's face turned to outrage, and beside him Tally had crouched into a defence position.  
David's mind cleared, and he found himself gawking at his hand, and then at the mark. He opened his mouth to speak, but instead found himself coughing painfully. His throat sounded full of congestion, and he wondered if he was bleeding somewhere. He turned so he was held up by both his hands, and continued the painful coughing.  
"David, what's wrong?" Tally asked, her voice filled with anger and worry. Her arm was now in front of Andrew, keeping him from retaliating.  
"I thought…" wheezed David between coughs; "you were someone…"  
Tally shushed him, and patted his back harshly. After a moment, she seemed to make a decision. "We need medical spray for bronchitis, pneumonia, or tuberculosis. Which one is it?"  
When no one answered, she leapt across the room and began ripping apart David's bag of supplies. He couldn't see her from his place on the floor, and Andrew continued to give him a dirty look.  
Tally raced back over, and pushed David onto his back. She straddled his midsection, and forced some sort of spray down his throat. The spray tasted unpleasantly like soap.  
When she let him go, his throat felt numb, and he gagged. He didn't feel a need to cough, but he still felt awful.  
"He's still shaking," remarked Andrew Simpson Smith.  
Tally retrieved another medical spray, and David held up his hands in surrender and said "its okay, I can do it."  
Seconds after taking the spray, he was out.

When he woke up, the room was empty, but he could hear his companions outside. His ankle still hurt dully, but the rest of him felt alright. He carefully stood up, and left the room using the wall for support.  
Outside, Andrew immediately noticed him, and his gaze fell to his obvious limp. Tally was a bit further away, but she also seemed to notice.  
David sat down next to Andrew, and Tally went to get water with the purifier.  
"How are you feeling?" he asked.  
"A lot better."  
"Good," said Andrew with a smile. David began to return the smile, but was unpleasantly surprised with being struck in the face.  
"Ow," he said, in shock.  
Andrew shrugged, "now we can be friends again."

Tally returned with the water, and David drank it gratefully. When he had finished, Tally kneeled in front of him, "what happened?" she asked angrily.  
David attempted to look her in the eye, but his stomach gave an unpleasant lurch.

"You tried to follow me," she accused, "and you got hurt."  
David smiled, "you're worried about me."

Her brows furrowed in anger, "you were supposed to stay here."  
"I did," he said matter of factly, "but I sprained my ankle hunting, and then got caught in the rain."  
She clenched her fists at her side, and attempted to take a calming breath. She stood up and glared down at David.  
"Don't worry about me so much," he said with a smile.  
Andrew watched the conversation unfold, his eyes going back and forth. He didn't dare interrupt for fear of Tally, but still he enjoyed watching David challenge her.  
"I don't worry about you that much," she spat, "I just want to know why I came back to you half dead."  
David stood up, and was about her height due to being on a higher step. He studied her face, and resisted the urge to touch her.  
"What are you looking at?" she asked, her anger temporarily subdued.  
Andrew stood up, "David and Tally," he said, "I have news from the west."


End file.
